Exclusive: Kosmos Part One

The Movie Sleuth has been granted exclusive access to the first part of Simon Horrocks' Kosmos. Read our review here.

"This briefcase is loaded with cokeDo you know what the streetvalue of this is?!!!"

Kickstarter, the
crowd-sourced fundraising site, has been one of the biggest game changers in
the realm of the arts. Now independent artists can appeal directly to their
audience to get projects funded instead of having to rely on giant corporations
or production companies. However, these campaigns can be a risky endeavor for
the funders and being directly involved monetarily might make them more critical
of the final product. It has allowed projects that normally wouldn’t see the
light of day get seen though, and just for that reason, I think crowdfunding is
a positive change to the filmmaking industry.

Kosmos is one such
crowdfunded project—an ambitious sci-fi television show directed by Simon
Horrocks, better known for his well-received low-budget film Third Contact. Horrocks raised over
$50,000 to make six episodes, each around twenty minutes long. While this is a
small budget, Horrocks proved that he is able to do a lot with limited
resources, as Third Contact was made
for less than $25,000.

The show centers around a scientist named Philip Hoyt (Jeff
Dahlgren) who is distraught by the fact that his wife is in a coma from which
she cannot awaken. He desperately tries to find a way to bridge the gap between
the physical world and her inner consciousness to ascertain what mysterious
illness is ravaging her body. There is definitely a sci-fi theme running
through the show, with a bit of mystery thrown in for good measure. The actual
look of the show is very slick and it looks much more expensive than it is. Both
the lighting and the cinematography are top-notch, with lots of interplay
between light and shadow. The musical score is excellent—very lush and
ethereal.

Unfortunately, some of the acting is stilted and bland which
may be attributed to the writing feeling a bit off. The dialog is very
exposition-heavy (which is common with sci-fi shows) and it doesn’t flow as
well as it should. Sometimes shows with a complicated premise start out rather
clunky and gain their footing a few episodes in. I was very intrigued by the
events in this first episode and want to watch the others to find out how the
story ends.

Kosmos definitely is off
to an interesting start and hopefully Horrocks can keep the momentum going and
deliver a great season.